The Further Conversation About Standard Writing Conventions

By Author: Adela
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Students took a district writing exam where the) selected from three writing prompts and employed standard conventions. However, its impromptu nature allowed for students' editing marks. They drafted two writing samples and submitted the determined best draft to the district for scoring purposes. Kiki selectee "Fitting in," a prompt that was personal in nature:

Mr. Lehrer brought Kiki's writing test to my attention because he sensed that she responded sincerely to the writing prompt. In a formal setting, Kiki selected a topic that coincided with her experiences as in African American student in a suburban context. The majority of this unassisted writing Cartier Pasha Replica sample indicates Kiki's awareness of standard conventions. For example, / consistently corresponds with I'm, in contrast to her use of I with the absence of have from her poem. However, her use of "tryin to fit in...I'm still a girl from the ghetto" presents an example of resisting the dominant discourse. She attempted to preserve a semblance of her voice in a ...
... context where preserving her sense of self compromised fitting in, a manner of resisting switching to the culture of power for any reason (Fecho et al., 2006). Tryin illustrates the absence of -g, a phonological AAVE feature (Rickford & Rickford, 2000).

Although Mr. Lehrer regarded Kiki's writing as a strong depiction of her experience, he submitted her other writing sample upon deciding it was more particularly ghetto, might displease the readers. He further reasoned the other draft would earn a higher score. Emically, standard language usage was acceptable for standardized testing purposes.

During an interview, Kiki and Monet described their awareness of writing Standard English and compromising their voice:

Author: So when you're in a classroom and when you're writing you know how to write formal and...
Monet: Right, I write formal.
Kiki: But it's different for me because when we moved over here my mother, my sister, my brother they were all changed, but it's hard for me.
Monet: I didn't change at all.
Kiki: Like my whole family changed when we moved over here. Monet: I won't change my way of speaking. I would use better words, but I wouldn't try to change.

This excerpt illustrates not wanting to change who they were or how they spoke for anyone, similar to adolescents cited Tag Heuer Replica Watches by Fecho et al. (2006), who resisted the culture of power for any reason. At the same time, they were aware of standard writing contexts in school. As former Detroit residents, they were deeply connected with their Detroit identity. They wanted to be understood and preserve their voices, not only for speaking purposes but also in writing for school contexts. However, writing samples and integrated field notes indicate that Kiki was more resistant to the culture of power than Monet, who was more accepting of code switching for appropriate contexts.